'Your Nation Will be Free,' Bush Tells Iraqis

WASHINGTON,
April 10, 2003 – U.S. and coalition forces operating in Iraq
will not stop until "Saddam's corrupt gang is gone,"
President Bush told the Iraqi people this morning.

"Our
only enemy is Saddam's brutal regime – and that regime is
your enemy as well," Bush said in an address aired via
"Towards Freedom TV," which broadcasts in Arabic directly to
the people of Iraq.

The program also aired an address by
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who told the Iraqis the
coalition aims to help alleviate immediate humanitarian
suffering and to quickly set up an interim authority run –
not by Britain, the United States or the United Nations –
but by the people of Iraq.

"We want to give you the chance
to rebuild your country; to rebuild your lives; to give your
families a chance of a better future," he said. "It is in
the spirit of friendship and goodwill that we now offer our
help."

Bush told the Iraqis that coalition forces are
taking great care to spare the lives of innocent Iraqi
citizens and are beginning to deliver food, water and
medicine. He highlighted the coalition's goals to end the
regime's control, maintain law and order and respect Iraq's
religious traditions.

The president told the Iraqi's their
"long era of fear and cruelty is ending." The United States
and its coalition partners will help Iraq build a peaceful
and representative government that protects the rights of
all citizens, he said, "and then our military forces will
leave.

"You will be free to build a better life instead of
building more palaces for Saddam and his sons, free to
pursue economic prosperity without the hardships of economic
sanctions, free to travel and speak your mind, free to join
in the political affairs of Iraq," Bush said.

Kurds,
Shi'as, Turkomans, Sunnis and other Iraqis "will be free of
the terrible persecution that so many have endured," the
president concluded. "… And I assure every citizen of Iraq:
Your nation will soon be free."

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